BMP4 is down-regulated in metastatic human and murine mammary tumours. Here we determined the effect of ectopic mouse Bmp4 re-expression on global gene expression patterns in orthotopic primary mammary tumours in syngeneic Balb/c mice.
BMP4 inhibits breast cancer metastasis by blocking myeloid-derived suppressor cell activity.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesComparison of genome-wide mRNA expresson between tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells from the tumor (hypofunctional T cells) and periphery (functional T cells)
Molecular Profile of Tumor-Specific CD8+ T Cell Hypofunction in a Transplantable Murine Cancer Model.
Specimen part
View SamplesBreast cancer metastasis to bone is a critical determinant of long-term survival after treatment of primary tumors. We used a mouse model of spontaneous bone metastasis to determine new molecular mechanisms. Differential transcriptome comparisons of primary and metastatic tumor cells revealed that a substantial set of genes suppressed in bone metastases were highly enriched for promoter elements for the type I interferon (IFN) regulatory factor, Irf7, itself suppressed in mouse and human metastases. The critical function of the Irf7 pathway was demonstrated by restoration of exogenous Irf7 or systemic interferon administration, which significantly reduced bone metastases and prolonged metastasis-free survival. Using mice deficient in the type I receptor (Ifnar1-/-) or mature B, T and NK cell responses (NOD Scid IL-2r-/- mice), we demonstrated that Irf7-driven suppression of metastasis was reliant on IFN signaling to host immune cells. Metastasis suppression correlated with decreased accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and increased CD4++, CD8 T cells and NK cells in the peripheral blood and was reversed by depletion of CD8+ cells and NK cells. Clinical importance of our findings was demonstrated as increased primary tumor Irf7 expression predicted prolonged bone and lung metastasis-free survival. Thus we report for the first time, a novel innate immune pathway, intrinsic to breast cancer cells, whose suppression in turn restricts systemic immunosurveillance to enable metastasis. This pathway may constitute a novel therapeutic target for restricting breast cancer metastases.
Silencing of Irf7 pathways in breast cancer cells promotes bone metastasis through immune escape.
Specimen part
View SamplesAfter zygote division, the resulting daughter cells progressively give rise to two very different tissue types. With the use of microarrays, global nuclear expression profiles were generated.
Cell type-specific transcriptome analysis in the early Arabidopsis thaliana embryo.
Specimen part
View SamplesEpithelial cell adhesion molecule EpCAM is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is dynamically expressed in human and murine renal epithelia during development. The levels of EpCAM in the renal epithelium are upregulated both during regeneration after ischemia/reperfusion injury and in renal-derived carcinomas. The role of EpCAM in early kidney development, however, has remained unclear. To identify potential programs and signaling pathways that are controlled by EpCAM during pronephros development, we developed a method to study the transcriptomes of specific pronephric segments. Combining laser capture microdissection (LCM) with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), we generated genome-wide transcriptional profiles of the distal late tubules of wild type and EpCAM-deficient embryos. Overall design: RNA-seq of LCM-dissected pronephric cells from EpCAM-deficient and control zebrafish embryos
EpCAM controls morphogenetic programs during zebrafish pronephros development.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesActivation of the MLL-ENL-ERtm oncogene initiates aberrant proliferation of myeloid progenitors. Here, we show induction of a fail-safe mechanism mediated by the DNA damage response (DDR) machinery that results in activation of the ATR/ATM-Chk1/Chk2-p53/p21 checkpoint and cellular senescence at early stages of cellular transformation caused by a regulatable MLL-ENL-ERtm in mice. Furthermore, we identified the transcription program underlying this intrinsic anti-cancer barrier, and DDR-induced inflammatory regulators that fine-tune the signaling towards senescence, thereby modulating the fate of MLL-ENL-immortalized cells in a tissue-environment-dependent manner. Our results indicate that DDR is a rate-limiting event for acquisition of stem cell-like properties in MLL-ENL-ERtm-mediated transformation, as experimental inhibition of the barrier accelerated the transition to immature cell states and acute leukemia development.
DNA damage response and inflammatory signaling limit the MLL-ENL-induced leukemogenesis in vivo.
Specimen part, Disease stage
View SamplesThe remarkable feature of Schwann cells (SCs) to transform into a repair phenotype turned the spotlight on this powerful cell type. SCs provide the regenerative environment for axonal re-growth after peripheral nerve injury (PNI) and play a vital role in differentiation of neuroblastic tumors into a benign subtype of neuroblastoma, a tumor originating from neural crest-derived neuroblasts. Hence, understanding their mode-of-action is of utmost interest for new approaches in regenerative medicine, but also for neuroblastoma therapy. However, literature on human SCs is scarce and it is unknown to which extent human SC cultures reflect the SC repair phenotype developing after PNI in patients. We performed high-resolution proteome profiling and RNA-sequencing on highly enriched human SC and fibroblast cultures, control and ex vivo degenerated nerve explants to identify novel molecules and functional processes active in repair SCs. In fact, we found cultured SCs and degenerated nerves to share a similar repair SC-associated expression signature, including the upregulation of JUN, as well as two prominent functions, i.e., myelin debris clearance and antigen presentation via MHCII. In addition to myelin degradation, cultured SCs were capable of actively taking up cell-extrinsic components in functional phagocytosis and co-cultivation assays. Moreover, in cultured SCs and degenerated nerve tissue MHCII was upregulated at the cellular level along with high expression of chemoattractants and co-inhibitory rather than -stimulatory molecules. These results demonstrate human SC cultures to execute an inherent program of nerve repair and support two novel repair SC functions, debris clearance via phagocytosis-related mechanisms and type II immune-regulation. Overall design: mRNA of 27 samples were sequenced (50bp, single end) and analyzed. Biological replicates were performed.
Proteomics and transcriptomics of peripheral nerve tissue and cells unravel new aspects of the human Schwann cell repair phenotype.
Subject
View SamplesGlioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of brain tumors. Despite radical surgery and radiotherapy supported by chemotherapy, the disease still remains incurable with extremely low median survival rate of 12-15 months from the time of initial diagnosis. The main cause of treatment failure is considered to be the presence of cells that are resistant to such treatment. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as regulators of gene expression are involved in the tumor pathogenesis, including GBM. MiR-338 is a brain specific miRNA which has been described to target pathways involved in proliferation and differentiation. In our study, miR-338-3p and -5p were differentially expressed in GBM tissue in comparison to non-tumor brain tissue. Overexpression of miR-338-3p with miRNA mimic did not show any changes in proliferation rates in GBM cell lines (A172, T98G, U87MG). On the other hand, pre-miR-338-5p notably decreased proliferation and caused cell cycle arrest. Since radiation is currently the main treatment modality in GBM, we combined overexpression of pre-miR-338-5p with radiation, which led to significantly decreased of cell proliferation, and increased cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in comparison to only irradiated cells. To better elucidate the mechanism of action, we performed gene expression profiling analysis that revealed targets of miR-338-5p being Ndfip1, Rheb, ppp2R5a. These genes have been described to be involved in DNA damage response, proliferation and cell cycle regulation. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe role of miR-338-5p in GBM and its potential to improve sensitivity of GBM to radiation.
MiR-338-5p sensitizes glioblastoma cells to radiation through regulation of genes involved in DNA damage response.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesComparison of two Chlamydia-specific CD4 T cells that are dependent on iNOS to terminate Chlamydia replication in epithelial cells to two Chlamydia-specific CD4 T cells that are iNOS-independent: Chlamydia trachomatis urogenital serovars replicate predominately in epithelial cells lining the reproductive tract. This tissue tropism poses a unique challenge for the host immune system and vaccine development. Studies utilizing the Chlamydia muridarum mouse model have shown that CD4 T cells are critical and sufficient to clear primary genital tract infections. In vitro studies have shown that CD4 T cells terminate the infection in epithelial cells by up regulating epithelial iNOS transcription and nitric oxide production via IFN-gammaand T cell-epithelial cell interactions mediated by LFA-1-ICAM-1. This mechanism however is not critical as iNOS-deficient mice clear infections normally, and IFN-gamma deficient mice clear 99.9% of the infection with near normal kinetics. We recently showed that a subset of Chlamydia-specific CD4 T cell clones were able to terminate replication in epithelial cells using a mechanism that was independent of iNOS and IFN-gamma. That mechanism did not require physical lysis of infected cells, but instead required T cell degranulation. In this study we advanced that work using gene expression microarrays to compare CD4 T cell clones that are able to terminate epithelial replication via an iNOS-independent mechanism to iNOS-dependent CD4 T cell clones. Micro array experiments showed that Plac8 was differentially expressed by the T cell clones having the iNOS-independent mechanism. Plac8-deficient mice had significantly delayed clearance of C. muridarum genital tract infections, and that the large majority of Plac8-deficient mice treated with the iNOS-inhibitor N-monomethyl-L-arginine (MLA) were unable to resolve a C. muridarum genital tract infection over 8 weeks. These results demonstrate that there are two independent and redundant T cell mechanisms for clearing C. muridarum genital tract infections; one mechanism dependent on iNOS, the other mechanism dependent on Plac8. While T cells subsets have been defined by cytokine profiles, there are important subdivisions by effector functions, in this case CD4Plac8.
Plac8-dependent and inducible NO synthase-dependent mechanisms clear Chlamydia muridarum infections from the genital tract.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesMicroarrays were conducted to asses the effect of Stb3 deletion in immediate transcriptional induction in response to glucose
Stb3 binds to ribosomal RNA processing element motifs that control transcriptional responses to growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
No sample metadata fields
View Samples